Praefectus Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 Paper is free to download here: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8v08w2d6 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 I would've never associated the Hell Creek Formation with mosasaurs. But it seems they have a bit of a marine transgression from the Western Interior Seaway there as well. Very interesting! 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziggycardon Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 Thank you for sharing! It seems like the game Saurian's idea of having a Mosasaur in Hell Creek wasn't that far fetched Interested in all things paleontology, geology, zoology, evolution, natural history and science! Professional exotic pet keeper, huge fantasy geek, explorer of the microfossil realm, member of the BVP (Belgian Association for Paleontology), Volunteer prepper at Oertijdmuseum Boxtel. View my collection topic here: The Growing Collection of Ziggycardon My animal collection at the "Members pet" topic Ziggycardon's exploration of the microfossil realm Trips to Eben Emael (Maastrichtian of Belgium) My latest fossil hunt Next project will be a dedicated prepping space. "A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." - Tyrion Lannister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 Yea pretty cool and not your normal HC deposit. I believe the Breien member is found only in a few counties of North Dakota. If you have interest in this member Ive listed a paper that has more info. From the abstract: " Fossils are scarce in the Breien Member but indicate deposition within the Upper Cretaceous Jeletzkytes nebrascensis Zone and a Lancian age. The Breien vertebrate fossil assemblage consists of terrestrial and marine taxa, including fish, crocodilians, dinosaurs, and mammals. Marine chondrichthyan teeth are the most abundant vertebrate fossils. Most of these taxa corroborate a Late Cretaceous age for the member and indicate that the Breien was deposited in relatively shallow water, nearshore, marine environments. This marine chondrichthyan fauna is similar to, butless diverse than, the Maastrichtian Fox Hills Formation fauna and exhibits no similarity to the early Paleocene Cannonball Member fauna. This finding lends support for a major end-Cretaceous extinction of marine chondrichthyan species." Faunal list of this member Marine Breien Member (Maastrichtian) of the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota: Stratigraphy, vertebrate fossil record, and age. Hoganson and Murphy January 2002 Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 361:247-269 DOI:10.1130/0-8137-2361-2.247 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 So fully marine, but near-shore then... I must admit that when I first read the title my first thoughts were "have they found another freshwater mosasaur then?" But I guess it would've been too early in mosasaur evolution for that anyway... 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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